The Truth About Growing Up
by Tears of the Moon 17
Summary: A one-shot about Robin explaining M'gann the song "Never Grow Up" by Taylor Swift and grief it digs up . . .


Disclaimer- I don't own Young Justice nor Taylor Swift's song "Never Grow Up".

I was listening to that song mentioned in the disclaimer and a thought hit me. Surely Robin has some thoughts on this song! I mean, after all, he was basically forced to grow up when he watched his parents die. His innocence was wiped clean off his mind. This thought turned into this one-shot and here we are! Honestly, this song made me wish I had the power to control time . . . and made me wonder why we have to grow up. Again, hope you enjoy and review!

Note- Just Artemis, M'gann and Kid Flash are listening to the song so it'll be in _**bold italics **_in "".

Note 2- Set in the first season. (Before Zatanna!)

**The Truth About Growing Up**

"_**-don't ever grow up-**_"

Robin hadn't expected to hear a song echoing in the Cave with sounds of crying. What was going on? Did someone die? That careless thought tugged on Robin's scarred heartstrings, causing a slight grimace to flash on his face. But he just ignored the stirred grief and came into the living room where Kid Flash, Artemis and M'gann were listening to Artemis's IPod where the song was coming from.

"_**-just stay this litte-**_"

"So . . . What's going on, guys?" Robin asked slowly, taking it the tears falling down M'gann's face and how Artemis seemed close to tears.

Kid Flash cleared his throat before answering. "Artemis played this song her friend said was touching and stuff because I said that no song could make me want to cry."

"And I proved you wrong! Admit it! You feel like crying right now!" Artemis said loudly as she casually wiped her eyes.

" . . . Yes, I do! I feel like crying! Happy now?"

"Of course not, you idiot! I just listen to that wonderfully sad song of Taylor Swift's! How could I gather any remotely happy feelings right now?"

_. . . I should just leave before this gets any weirder._

"Guys," M'gann started as she wiped her eyes with a tissue. "this song was sad but-"

"But what?" Robin asked quietly despite his gut feeling not to ask.

"But I don't understand most of the song."

"WHAT?" Artemis and Kid Flash yelled at the same time.

M'gann seemed to cower into the couch. "Well, I don't. She keeps telling us about not wanting to grow up but why? What's wrong with growing up?"

Kid Flash and Artemis seemed to falter at this question. They didn't know how they could put their explanations into steady words that could be seen as serious. But they knew someone who could.

When Robin saw two pair of eyes locked on him, he shook his head. "You guys are NOT dragging me into this. If you want your opinions to get through to someone, learn how to put your feelings into words. Don't push it onto someone else!"

"Please?" They pleaded with puppy eyes.

After a while, Robin sighed. "Fine. But only this once."

"Thank you!" Kid Flash and Artemis both said, their unison going unnoticed to only them.

"Now, M'gann, how about you play the song from the beginning and every few lyrics, I'll explain them to you?" Robin asked gently.

M'gann nodded. "Okay though that's not what you agreed to do . . ."

"It's basically the same thing."

"_**Your little hands wrapped around my finger and it's so quiet in the world tonight. Your little eyelids flutter 'cause you're dreaming so I tuck you in and turn on your favorite nightlight. To you, everything's funny. You got nothing to regret. I'd give all I have, honey, if you could stay like that.**_"

Robin smiled gently, the image so sweet and tender in his mind. "Right there, she wishes that the child could stay innocent."

"Why?"

"Because . . . that's when you know nothing about the evil in the world and how horrible people can be. It's a time where you think you'll live with your parents forever . . ."

_I once thought the same thing but then reality came crashing in with death at its side. That was when I lost my innocence . . . That was when I grew up._

"_**Oh, darling, don't you ever grow up. Don't you ever grow up. Just stay this little. Oh, darling, don't you ever grow up. Don't you ever grow up.**_"

"And right there, she's telling the child to never grow up . . . If that was obvious."

"But why?"

Robin sighed heavily. "Because when children grow up, they harden their hearts to the world and they change. They move away and learn that they can't be friends with everyone."

"_**It could stay this simple. I won't let nobody hurt you, won't let no one break your heart. No one will desert you. Just try to never grow up. Never grow up.**_"

"I get what she's saying there but . . . Why does she want to convince the child so badly?" M'gann asked gently, staring at the IPod as if she were seeing the singer.

"Because, M'gann, she doesn't want to have to watch the child she loves dearly go through the pain of growing up. She doesn't want the child to be hurt and realize that fairytales are true and that there are no happily-ever-after's."

M'gann tilted her head. "But is that necessarily a bad thing? Don't you have to learn these things to become adults?"

"Yeah, M'gann . . . but an adult's life is littered with decisions, heartbreak, pain and the eventual abandonment because their family will probably die before them."

_In some cases, like mine, you end up alone before you realize that you can't live with your parents forever and ever. If that isn't cruel, I don't know what is._

"_**You're in the car on the way to the movies and you're mortified you mom's dropping you off. At fourteen, there's just so much you can't do and you can't wait to move out someday and call your own shots. But don't make her drop you off around the block. Remember that she's getting older too and don't lose the way that you dance around in your pj's, getting ready for school.**_"

"I get most of that too except where she mentions about not losing the dancing."

Robin laughed. "Yeah, there she's telling the child to not let the world change who she is and to remain herself."

"How do you understand all this stuff?"

" . . . Experience, M'gann, experience."

"_**Oh, darling, don't you ever grow up, don't you ever grow up. Just stay this little. Oh, darling, don't you ever grow up, don't you ever grow up. It could stay this simple and no one's ever burned you. Nothing's ever felt you scarred and even though you want to, just try to never grow up.**_"

"No one's ever burned her?" M'gann echoed, puzzlement written on her face.

"It means no one has hurt her."

"Oh . . . what about the scarring?"

"Basically the same thing."

"Oh . . ."

"_**Take pictures in your mind of your childhood room. Memorize what it sounded like when you dad gets home. Remember the footsteps, remember the words said and all of your brother's favorite songs. I just realized everything I have is someday gonna be gone . . .**_"

Those few lyrics had hit Robin's heart hard, digging up memories of his childhood that he had long forgotten. But he couldn't think of them now . . . It would make him want to cry . . .

"There, she's telling her to memorize everything because someday, it's all going to be gone," Robin bit out, trying to get rid of the lump in his throat.

"I got that but why will all of it be gone? Is something bad going to happen to them?"

Robin let a small smile grace his face. "You never know, M'gann. That's why it's so important to spend every living moment with the ones you love before it's too late."

_Like Mom and Dad . . ._

"_**So here I am in my new apartment in a bid city. They just dropped me off . . . It's so much colder than I thought it would be so I tuck myself in and turn my nightlight on.**_"

"I don't get it, Robin," M'gann said with a frown on her face.

"Don't get what?"

"She just got what she wanted so why is she so sad?"

"Because she just realized that while she just gained the freedom she had longed for, she lost something in return."

"What did she lose?"

"The warmth of her childhood home."

"_**Wish I'd never grown up. I wish I'd never grown up. Oh, I don't wanna grow up. Wish I'd never grown up. Could still be little! Oh, I don't wanna grow up. Wish I'd never grown up. It could still be simple!**_"

"And there . . . She regrets growing up so much . . ."

"But why, Robin?"

Robin shrugged. "There's a lot of possible reasons. Like she misses the days she merely worried what cartoon she would watch on Saturday morning or longs to go back where her parents were alive-"

He stopped himself from finishing that sentence, the sentence that he had accidentally mentioned his own reason why he missed his younger years. M'gann didn't notice this since she was listening to the song but Artemis and Kid Flash did. They said nothing thought, sensing personal issues behind that.

"_**Oh, darling, don't you ever grow up, don't you ever grow up. Just stay this little. Oh, darling, don't you ever grow up, don't you ever grow up. It could stay this simple. I won't let nobody hurt you, won't let no one break your heart. And even though you want to, please try to never grow up. Don't you ever grow up. Just never grow up . . .**_"

As the music faded, Robin suddenly stood up and turned to leave when M'gann's voice rang in his mind.

_Thank you, Robin. Thank you for helping me understand even though it pained you to do so._

Robin only snorted at her words, shaking his head. He should have known that she sensed his emotional stress during their talk. But maybe it was good to be reminded of what he had learned all those years ago . . . Maybe he needed to remember how easily your life could change.

"Anything for a friend."

**A/N- **I know it sucked. This was 1,776 words long!


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